


run around heaven for you

by novacronums



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Afterspark reunions, Death warning because Afterspark, M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 18:43:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13981086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novacronums/pseuds/novacronums
Summary: After finding himself in the Afterspark, Swerve goes in search of a lost loved one.





	run around heaven for you

**Author's Note:**

> I had a mighty need for a Skids/Swerve reunion in the Afterspark and wrote this to satisfy that need.

No one really knew what to do now.

They were dead and, if Pipes and Trailcutter were right, there was unfinished business, adjustments, preparations to do before they could ascend to the Matrix floating high above them. A few of them discussed at length what preparations they’d need, what kind of business kept them from being ready to ascend, whether they were ready to ascend or if they just wanted to hang out here, on this separate plane of existence.

Swerve, as much as he was excited about the Afterspark and all it re-affirmed his beliefs, couldn’t take part in the conversations. Something nagged at him. The Afterspark felt so empty – there should be so many more people there. Where were Shock and Ore? Rewind – well, Rewind the First, as Swerve decided he was going to call the Rewind who’d died to stop Overlord – and Tripodeca?

Had they all ascended already?

Swerve’s spark pulsed suddenly in his chest as the thought came to him…

Had _Skids_ ascended?

For the first time since realizing they were in the Afterspark, Swerve really had to stop and sit down. Plopping down on the ground, away from and unnoticed by the others, Swerve brought his hands to his chest. If Skids had ascended, it would be that much longer before Swerve could see him again – if he could see him again at all. They’d gotten to see Trailcutter and Pipes again, because they hadn’t ascended, but Ten was now gone. Who knew if, once you ascended, whether there was more or not. Trailcutter had mentioned a next life, maybe that was what was next after ascension and if that was true, what if Skids was already reborn?

Skids, with a new life, where Swerve would never see him again, never hear his laugh again, never have his spark pulse wildly when Skids turned that damnably gorgeous smile to him.

Gone forever.

He didn’t want to believe it, that Skids might have already moved on and left them all behind.

“Swerve?” Pipes put a hand on the other mech’s shoulder. “Everything okay?”

Swerve turned to Pipes, optic band bright with his emotions. “H-hey, Pipes, can you tell me something?”

At Pipes’ nod, Swerve asked the question for which he wasn’t even sure he wanted an answer.

* * * * *

Swerve followed Pipes’ directions towards the cluster of buildings in the east, pushing his alt mode as fast as he could drive. He had to get there, had to find Skids. There was so much he wanted to say to him, things that he hadn’t gotten the chance to say before, things he’d hated himself for never saying. If there was a chance that he could talk to Skids, he had to take it.

If he could tell Skids how he felt…

Tires screeching as he reached the building Pipes had told him to check – “If Skids is still here, that’s where he’ll be,” Pipes had said – Swerve transformed and stood outside the building. He could hear voices inside, murmurs and whispers. He stepped forward, hands curling around the frame of the open door as he peeked into the wide room.

Inside, it seemed to be a kind of temple, which was surprising to Swerve; he knew that Skids had broken away from his faith and was fairly agnostic, so it seemed odd that Skids would be here. As he looked around inside, he noted how the few mechs inside were mostly kneeling at altars, as if they were praying, which once again struck him as strange, because why would one pray in the Afterspark? Why would Skids be here?

The answer came in the form of Tripodeca coming up to him. “Swerve! When did you get here? Did you come to try to contact someone?”

“What?”

Tripodeca gestured to one of the empty altars. “Sometimes, it helps, to send a message to someone you cared about when you were alive. You can do that here. I’ve been trying to get a hold of Perceptor, but he’s refusing to acknowledge my messages. I just want him to know I don’t blame him for my death.”

Swerve arched his optic band. “So this is like reverse-praying? Instead of praying to Primus, you pray to someone you knew?”

“Essentially. It can really help people move on, you know.”

“You haven’t.”

“Because Perceptor’s a stubborn afthead that won’t listen to a dead mech!” Tripodeca crossed his arms over his chest in a huff. “Look, if you’re just going to mock me, I don’t have to help you contact whoever you’re contacting.”

Swerve raised his hands into the air. “I’m not trying to contact anyone! I just came looking for Skids!”

Tripodeca’s optics widened. “Oh! Skids isn’t here.”

At that, Swerve felt his spark sink. So he _had_ missed his chance. Skids must have ascended already. This had been a waste of time. Of course, Skids had ascended. What unfinished business could he have? He’d saved them by sacrificing himself, he’d discovered what memories had been hidden from him, he had no reason to stay behind.

Tripodeca didn’t seem to notice the way Swerve slumped his shoulders, having turned to yell across the room at someone else, much to the annoyance of the mechs kneeling at their respective altars. “Hey, Scatterspear! You seen Skids anywhere?”

“He heard about the newbies and sped off about twenty minutes ago!”

Among the shushes and protests, Tripodeca shouted a thanks and turned towards Swerve again, only to find that Swerve had rushed off. Tripodeca ran out the door and called after Swerve. “Tell Skids I’ll see him at game night!”

* * * * *

Why was it so _hard_ to find a _single mech_ in the Afterspark? Swerve felt he was running around in circles, trying to just _find Skids_. At least on the Lost Light, he could usually find Skids in the bar or in the vents or hanging out in the labs – sometimes literally hanging out. He’d never had to run around this much to track him down.

After following Pipes’ directions to the temple and then heading _back_ to where he’d left the Rod Squad, Swerve was sent off on one more drive because the group had friggin’ _moved_ since he’d driven off. Of _course_ , they’d leave without him – no matter how many of them had come to rescue him when he’d been dying from his old wound, he was still the one no one paid attention to except when he acted out or Whirl needed someone to mock. Of _course_ , they wouldn’t notice he was gone.

He drove around, looking for the others, grumbling to himself about being left behind, when he heard the honk of a car horn. Turning his wheels, he saw a familiar flash of blue as another mech approaching him from behind. He skidded to a stop and transformed, as did the mech behind him. Swerve’s optic band brightened and he opened his mouth to speak, but before he could the other mech had reached him and swept him up in his arms in a tight hug.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Skids told him.

Swerve, arms thrown around Skids the moment the other mech had picked him up, pulled just enough from the hug to look at him. “You’ve been looking for me? _I’ve_ been looking for _you_! Pipes said you were at the temple place and then some guy named Scatterspear told Tripodeca that you’d gone to find us, so I went back to the group - ”

“We were looking for you,” Skids pointed out.

“Which doesn’t make sense, like they care what happens to me - ”

“They do.”

“Okay, first off, stop interrupting,” Swerve told him, huffing slightly. “I’m trying to tell you how much trouble you are to find and when you interrupt I get distracted by how pretty your lips are.”

Skids laughed and touched his helm against Swerve’s. “I missed you.”

Swerve arched his optic band. “You did?”

“You’d have known sooner if you’d answered any of my calls.”

“You were calling me?” Swerve’s voice was small, the barest hint of hope coloring the edges of it.

Skids gave a nod. “There were things I never got to say before I died. Things I wanted to tell you, but then everything happened so fast and I ran out of time. I tried to get a message through, but – ”

“But I never picked up,” Swerve concluded.

“Stop interrupting, I’m trying to tell you how much trouble you are to contact and when you interrupt I want to kiss you.”

That had Swerve’s mouth snapping shut – a miracle on its own. It was rare that he was ever speechless; he’d ramble to nonsense sooner than shut up nine times out of ten. He looked to Skids, acutely aware of the closeness with which Skids held him and their helms still touched. Swerve tightened his own hold on Skids, leaning closer to him. “Maybe you _should_.”

“Maybe I will,” Skids replied, the softest smile on his lips, the kind that Swerve had always felt his spark pulse when he saw them.

A moment later and that smile was pressed to Swerve’s lips in a gentle kiss, the kind of kiss that romantics envied – warm, tender, and sending shivers through Swerve’s frame as he kissed back. It was the kind of kiss that spoke volumes, said every little thing that had gone unsaid when they were alive; a kiss that Swerve had waited his entire life to receive, genuine and loving. He’d even go so far as to say it was a heavenly kiss.

As the kiss ended and Skids pulled away, Swerve said just that.

Skids laughed and kissed him again.


End file.
